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Fallin' All In You | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley Genres: Angst, Fluff, Romance Warnings: Mild Language Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 33 Summary: There's a week to go until the Gryffindor Vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch final and tensions are rising and not just between the houses. Hitcount: Story Total: 10037; Chapter Total: 1293 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: Once again thanks to all the readers and especially the reviewers. This chapter is entirely from Ginny's POV and sadly it's very Harry light but that's only because we've seen the big part of this day from Harry's POV in HBP. |
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It had taken Ginny what felt like hours to fall asleep. She’d lain cocooned in her soft duvet, with her eyes squeezed firmly shut and tried in vain to clear her swirling thoughts from her mind. Her afternoon had been horribly stressful and far from allowing her to drift into a relaxing sleep, her brain was forcing her to replay it over and over again. She’d felt better after her chat with Hermione in the library at lunch. She’d been prepared to refocus on her priorities and she’d planned on being a model student for the rest of the afternoon. Really, Ginny should have known better than to try and turn over a new leaf with an afternoon of Defence Against the Dark Arts ahead of her. Snape had set her an inordinate amount of homework. He’d given the whole class two essays to do and then he’d given Ginny an additional set of questions that he wanted back by tomorrow, stating that he was concerned she was going to fall behind due to attending too many Quidditch practices. Ginny had thought she had everything somewhat under control but she’d not been expecting quite so much work from Snape. It had become apparent that there was no way she was going to be able to eat dinner, complete all of her homework and go to Quidditch practice. Something had to give, and so she’d decided to skip dinner. She already knew she hadn’t answered Snape’s questions to a level that he would consider satisfactory and that would mean he’d give her even more work tomorrow so - with Professor’s Vector’s warning that failing her O.W.Ls was essentially the same as failing at life ringing in her ears - Ginny had tried to hastily finish her Herbology essay before practice and had completely lost track of time. When she’d finally remembered to check her watch it was only ten minutes until she was meant to be on the pitch and she was still in the library with her books and parchment scattered everywhere. Ginny had swept everything haphazardly into her bag and made a run for it. The castle had been teeming with students milling about after dinner and the crowds had made it impossible to get anywhere quickly. In the entrance hall, she’d run straight into a group of Ravenclaw seventh years who had found it highly entertaining to block her path out of the castle. It had taken two bat-bogey hexes to get them out of Ginny’s way. By the time Ginny had emerged from the changing room and found Harry waiting for her she’d been sure he was about to yell at her for being late and she’d also been sure if he did she would have cried. She’d launched into an explanation, absolutely determined that she wouldn’t cry in front of him. Or anyone else. Harry hadn’t yelled at her though, he’d asked if she was alright and then, when Ginny had half admitted she was pathetically cracking under the stress of O.W.Ls, he hadn’t teased her or told her to stop being a baby, he’d been sympathetic. Merlin, she’d needed that hug. It had been extremely bold of Ginny to throw herself into Harry’s arms like that, but at that moment she hadn’t cared in the slightest. She’d felt like she was about to crumble and she absolutely needed him to hold her together. Harry’s arms around her had renewed her. If he could get through half the rubbish he had to deal with then Ginny could get through Quidditch and O.W.Ls and the fact that focussing on either of those things was proving to be impossible whilst she was constantly thinking about him. Practice had gone surprisingly well, Ginny had played to the best of her abilities. She had been absolutely determined to show Harry that she wasn’t falling apart, or too weak to play and in doing so she’d played better than she had all week. She'd been flagging by the end of practice though. Her lack of dinner had begun to catch up with her due to the physical activity and her determination began to waver when she remembered she still had half of her herbology essay, a set of translations for Ancient Runes and the rest of her number chart for Arithmancy to finish before she could even contemplate going to bed. Ginny had showered and changed at record speed even for her. With great reluctance she’d set straight off back to the castle without waiting for Harry and Ron, offering a quick explanation about too much homework over her shoulder. Harry had frowned at her in a concerned sort of way but he made no move to stop her. By the time the rest of the team had returned to the common room Ginny had found a quiet corner and was already hurriedly scribbling away at her Herbology essay, trying to ignore the uncomfortable, gnawing hunger in her stomach. She’d been so engrossed in her work she hadn’t noticed that Ron hadn’t taken his customary seat with Harry and Hermione, but had gone straight up to his dormitory. That was until she found a torrent of chocolate frogs being poured across her parchment. She’d looked up to find Ron stood above her, frowning at Ginny in a way that reminded her strikingly of their mother. “Harry informs me you haven’t had any dinner.” “I’ve got too much work to do,” Ginny had explained, eagerly tearing the wrapper off one of the chocolate frogs and sticking the whole thing in her mouth at once. “This is my entire emergency stash of chocolate frogs, so tomorrow you’d better come to dinner because I won’t have anything to give you if you don’t. Hermione says she’ll help you with anything you need and Harry says to let him know if you need anything for Defence.” “This is your entire stash of chocolate frogs?” Ginny had thought she’d misheard him. The offers from Hermione and Harry had barely registered in Ginny’s mind. Ron never shared with her, especially not the last of his chocolate. “Yeah, don’t go getting all sentimental on me,” Ron had quickly said. “I’m mainly giving them to you because Harry keeps looking at you all concerned, I think he thinks you’re going to pass out and it’s going to be his fault for making you train on an empty stomach.” “I’m fine,” Ginny had not wanted Ron to think she couldn’t handle Quidditch or school or anything else any more than she’d wanted Harry to think such a thing. “I know you are,” Ron had agreed. “But chocolate frogs for dinner isn’t exactly the pinnacle of nutrition so maybe come to dinner tomorrow, please.” It was the ‘please’ that had convinced Ginny that Ron had actually been worried about her. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d purposefully said something that polite to one another. Ginny had been lost for words so she’d simply nodded and without further comment, Ron had turned and stalked back across the common room to Harry and Hermione. Ginny had returned to her work without so much as sparing a glance in their direction for the rest of the evening. Even when she’d been sure she could feel Harry’s eyes upon her, Ginny hadn’t broken her focus from the parchment in front of her. By the time she’d finished all her work and finally looked up from the table, there was a mountain of crumpled chocolate frog wrappers beside her and the common room had been empty. Ginny’s eyelids had felt impossibly heavy and walking up the spiral staircase to her dorm had seemed like a monumental task but when she’d finally changed into her pyjamas and sunk into bed her mind had simply refused to shut off. She assumed at some point her stubbornness had paid off and she managed to drift off although she couldn’t say for certain when it had been, but Ginny found herself being awoken by the sound of quiet sniffling so she knew she must have fallen asleep at some point. The room was still dark when Ginny drew her hangings back so she was sure it couldn’t be time to wake up yet. The sniffling became louder as she poked her head further into the room. “Lizzie?” Ginny heard Maddie say through a yawn. Ginny groped for her wand under her pillow and illuminated the tip with a mutter. A dim ghostly light filled the room, which brightened slightly as Amrinta’s wand illuminated too. All five of them were awake now. Leoni sat up in bed, blinking her dark eyes blearily. Amrinta sat crossed-legged on the end of her bed, her usually perfect braids were mussed from sleep. Amrinta’s lit wand was pointed in the direction of Lizzie’s bed. Maddie had leapt up the moment it had become clear Lizzie was in distress. She toed her slippers on to her feet and pulled the hangings of Lizzie’s bed open. Lizzie was curled against her pillows, her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs. Her bed was covered in books and her wand, which was lying forgotten at the foot of her bed, was also lit. Maddie perched on the edge of Lizzie’s bed, in the only spot available that was free of books. “What’s wrong?” Maddie asked, gently stroking Lizzie’s hair. “I c-c-can’t do it!” Lizzie wailed. “Can’t do what?” Amrinta probed. “Any of it!” Lizzie cried. She picked up a book seemingly at random and threw it across the room. It collided with the corner of Leoni’s trunk and landed with a thud on the carpet. “I’m going to fail all my O.W.Ls and then everyone will know that I’m not a proper witch!” “What do you mean ‘not a proper witch’?”Leoni demanded. Sensing that this wasn’t going to be a short conversation, Ginny pulled her dressing gown on and settled on her stomach, with her head facing the end of the bed. She reached back and grabbed one of her pillows to rest under her chin for comfort. “That’s what everyone’s saying!” Lizzie proclaimed. “That muggle-borns aren’t proper witches. That we’re mudbloods!” “Has someone said that to you?” Ginny felt fury rising within her. She was already planning how she would hunt the anonymous person down and teach them to keep their mouth shut. “Not directly,” Lizzie’s cries may have quietened slightly but she still sounded distraught. “But it’s what everyone’s thinking. That’s what all the deaths and disappearances in the paper are about and if I fail then I’m just proving them all right.” For a moment there was nothing but silence. As the only full pureblood in the room, Ginny couldn’t help but feel overwhelming guilt and shame that people like her had caused Lizzie to feel this way. Amrinta rose from her bed and quietly padded across to Lizzie’s. With a flick of her wand, Lizzie’s books flew off the covers and landed in a neat pile on the floor. Amrinta took a seat where the books had previously been and took Lizzie’s hands in hers. “You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” Amrinta reached up and wiped a tear from Lizzie’s face. “And that is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.” Maddie wrapped an arm around Lizzie’s shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. “I agree. You can do magic, that’s literally the only qualification for being a ‘real witch’ and you know it.” Ginny pulled herself up on her elbows so her mouth wasn’t muffled by her pillow. “Those people abducting and killing people are vile morons and it’s not your responsibility to prove yourself to them. It’s on them not to act like complete psychopaths and you’re not allowed to shoulder their guilt for them.” Ginny knew a thing or two about accepting the guilt for things that were beyond your control. “Ginny’s right,” Amrinta agreed. Lizzie’s face was still covered by her hands but her head bobbed up and down in what Ginny suspected was supposed to be a nod, the wand light pointed at her cast a ghostly shadow on the wall behind her as she moved. “Have you been up all night?” Leoni asked, eyeing the books that were now stacked neatly beside Lizzie’s bed. Lizzie took a deep shuddering sigh and finally let her hands drop from her face. Even in the dim light of Ginny’s and Amrinta’s wands, Lizzie looked pale and drawn, the dark circles under her eyes were only enhanced by the shadow of the dim light. “Yeah, I’ve been revising. Sorry, I woke you, a proper witch would have remembered to cast a silencing charm.” “No,” Maddie said firmly. “A proper witch would have woken up her friends and said ‘oi I’m having a mental breakdown over here. Can you sort me out, please?’” “Yeah,” Said Amrinta. “And the rest of us proper witches would have reminded you that you’re top of our class. What kind of not proper witch manages to get to the top of the class at a magic school? Doesn’t make any sense does it?” Tears still sparkled on Lizzie’s face in the wand light but she let out a weak giggle. “Sorry, I’m being really stupid. No one else gets this worked up.” “Oh, yes we do!” Leoni assured her. “I skipped lunch today to go and cry in the toilets instead. I figure when my parents murder me for failing everything I can try and take Moaning Myrtle’s job.” They all began to laugh, Lizzie harder than anyone. Seeing that Lizzie was at least somewhat cured, Amrinta crossed the room back to her bed. With a flick of her wand, she sent a chocolate cauldron soaring across the room to each of them. Ginny’s landed neatly on the pillow in front of her but she ignored it. “I literally can’t eat any more chocolate,” she said by way of explanation as Amrinta watched her curiously. Ginny turned to Lizzie. “You think you’re bad? I skipped dinner to try and get some work done before Quidditch, which made me late to practice. Then I unloaded all my stress on Harry and forced him to hug me. He clearly thought I looked beyond pathetic because he forced Ron to give me all his chocolate frogs.” Laughter filled the room once more in response to Ginny’s tale of woe. Amrinta waited for it to die down before crossing her arms over her chest and fixing them all with a stern glare. “You all need to stop skipping meals! We’re all eating breakfast together in the morning.” Leoni ignored Amrinta’s admonishment, instead, she fixed Ginny with an awed gaze. “You hugged Harry Potter? Did he hug you back?” Maddie answered before Ginny had the chance. “Of course he did! He’s been lusting after her for months!” “Lusting after?” Ginny repeated incredulously. She was infinitely grateful that her blush probably wasn’t visible to her roommates in the dim wand light. “Who even says things like that? Are you ninety years old?” “No,” Maddie said through a giggle. “But there’s no other word for what he’s been doing!” “I think it’s nice!” Amrinta announced. “If anyone could use a hug, it’s him.” “And all the better if it’s from someone as hot as Ginny,” Maddie added sagely. Ginny grabbed the unopened chocolate cauldron in front of her and chucked it directly at Maddie’s face, her chaser’s aim was true and it bounced straight off the centre of Maddie’s nose. Far from looking offended at Ginny’s assault, Maddie happily picked the cake up, removed the packaging and took a bite from it. Leoni moved forward on her bed so she was also lying on her stomach, mirroring Ginny’s position. “Was it good? He’s not super muscley like McLaggen but I bet you’d feel safe in Harry Potter’s arms.” Ginny bitterly regretted throwing the cauldron cake away as it left her with nothing to put in her mouth to save her from having to answer. What was she supposed to say? She liked her roommates a great deal but she wasn’t about to sit here and divulge her deepest feelings to them. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them, what was said in the dorm room had always stayed in the dorm room, but just last year Ginny hadn’t spoken to any of them for six months when they’d refused to believe Harry about Cedric and Voldemort and Ginny couldn’t help the old sting of bitterness that still surfaced occasionally when they mentioned Harry’s name. “It was just a hug,” She said lamely. It was half true, it was just a hug in the way that a Firebolt was just a broom. Maddie swallowed the last of Ginny’s cauldron cake before moving the conversation in the exact opposite direction of where Ginny wanted it to go. “Of course if you really wanted to relieve some stress you probably should have just kissed him.” Ginny was no longer confident that her blush wasn’t visible in the dimness of the room, in fact, she was quite sure they could all extinguish their wands and just use her cheeks as a source of light. “Oooh, I bet Harry would be a good kisser,” Leoni said. “He’s always so brooding, I bet if he kissed you it would be really intense and passionate.” “He’s not - we’re not - it’s not-” Ginny seemed to be having trouble forming full sentences. She’d thought many times about what kissing Harry would be like. Leoni was right Harry was brooding sometimes, but he was also funny and daring, and bright, if he kissed you Ginny couldn’t imagine what it would feel like. Just hugging him had been like nothing she’d ever felt before. “Oh, leave Ginny alone!” Lizzie said, giving Ginny a sympathetic glance. “Surely you’ve got better stuff going on than obsessing over her and Harry.” “There is no me and Harry,” Ginny said, wanting to dispel any rumours before they began. It struck Ginny as bitterly amusing how words that had come out of her own mouth could be like a knife to the heart. “Well there might be a me and Seamus,” Leoni said in a casual tone. Ginny was just grateful for the change in topic. “What?” Amrinta exclaimed, leaving forward over her bed covers. “You didn’t tell me that!” “It only happened after dinner and you were busy with your Muggle Studies homework so I didn’t want to bother you, but seeing as we’re all up at four AM I might as well dish the gossip. He asked me to go to the final with him on Saturday.” “What did you say?” Lizzie asked. Her head was still resting on Maddie's shoulder but she seemed to have perked up now they were talking about lighter topics. “I said yes. Quidditch is usually really boring -” Leoni threw Ginny an apologetic look as she said this. “But I figure it might be more interesting if I’m getting a play by play in that accent.” All five of them broke into giggles as Ginny, Amrinta, Lizzie and Maddie nodded in agreement. Ginny would never even consider going on a date with Seamus but even she couldn't deny that there was something quite charming about a lilting Irish accent paired with a roguish smile. "Jake Webb asked to go with me," Maddie said once the giggles had subsided. "That Hufflepuff seventh year?" Ginny asked, vaguely recalling a tall boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. "Yeah," Maddie nodded. "I turned him down though." "How come?" Leoni asked. "I thought he was alright." "Because he asked me like this," Maddie sat up straighter and affected a sardonic pout. When she spoke her voice was several octaves deeper than normal. "Archer, do you wanna come to the match with me on Saturday. Don't worry about actually understanding the game, someone as pretty as you is worth having to explain all the action too." Amrinta let out a little cry of indignation. "He did not!" Maddie nodded fervently. "He did! And when I pointed out that my parents own the Appleby Arrows meaning I basically grew up at the ground and I've forgotten more about Quidditch than he's ever even known he told me I didn't have to pretend just to impress him… apparently, my legs have already impressed him enough!" There was a collective groan from all assembled. Ginny buried her head in her pillow for a second in frustration. It wasn't anything new they'd all be on the receiving end of idiotic comments like this but if anything it got more frustrating with each insult rather less. "This is why I stick to girls!" Amrinta proclaimed. "I'm going to the match with Siobhan Quirke." "Excuse me!" Ginny placed an offended hand to her chest. "You're taking a Ravenclaw to the final? The final which we're playing against Ravenclaw?" "Yep," Amrinta said unapologetically. "I figure one of us can console the other." "Fine,” Ginny sighed. “But you'd better bloody cheer for me!" “Obviously,” Amrinta said as though it had never been in doubt. “Guys!” Maddie hissed in a whisper. Ginny turned her head in Maddie’s direction. Lizzie was still leaning heavily on Maddie’s shoulder but her eyes were closed and her breathing had turned even. Maddie made no attempt to move, obviously concerned to wake Lizzie when she’d only just drifted off. “We need to keep an eye on her,” Amrinta whispered, jerking her head in Lizzie’s direction. “The last one in the dorm makes sure she’s asleep from now on.” They all nodded in agreement. Ginny’s eyelids were fluttering closed even as Amrinta began to whisper once more. “And no more skipping meals, for any of us. Ginny if you can’t fit your homework in with practice then we’ll help you.” “Thank you,” Ginny said appreciatively. Her head felt like a boulder sinking towards the comfort of her pillow. “And if anyone feels like having a cry come to me,” Maddie volunteered in a hushed tone. “Don’t go locking yourselves in the bathroom.” “Uhuh,” Ginny and Leoni both mumurmed as one. *** Ginny awoke confused and disorientated. Her head was at the wrong end of the bed and she was wearing her dressing gown. She blinked rapidly and slowly the foggy confusion was dispelled from her brain. Every inch of her body felt heavy from lack of sleep and just lifting her head from her pillow took a great deal of effort. As she rose into a sitting bed she saw that Leoni had fallen asleep in much the same upside-down position as herself and Maddie and Lizzie were still leaning against one another in Lizzie’s bed. Only Amrinta had fallen asleep in her own bed, her head against the pillows, but even she was yawning loudly as the alarm sounded shrill and persistent throughout the room. It took the five of them an inordinate amount of time to get moving and Ginny suspected she, Maddie, Lizzie and Leoni would have all chosen to skip breakfast in favour of an extra half an hours sleep if it wasn’t for Amrinta manhandling them out of bed, absolutely refusing to hear any talk of them missing a meal. Amrinta marched them all down to the great hall together and Ginny ate her cornflakes under her supervision. They were all too tired to attempt conversation so they ate in silence. The rest of the day passed in a blur. Ginny couldn’t help but notice it was a Harry-less blur. She hadn’t quite realised how much time they’d been spending together until he was absent from almost her entire day. Obviously, he was never in her lessons but she usually ran into him at break or lunch. Not today, though. Today Ginny stuck close to Maddie and Lizzie at break and they spent fifteen minutes quizzing each other on charms incantations. At lunch, Amrinta rounded the whole dorm up on the way out of potions and herded them into the great hall like a particularly enthusiastic border collie. Ginny caught a brief glimpse of Harry as she took a seat between Maddie and Leoni. He smiled warmly at her and she gave him a little wave but she’d barely finished eating before Lizzie was begging her to go to the library to start their Defence essays. By the time Ginny entered Snape’s dark Defence classroom after lunch she was feeling utterly exhausted. She slid into the seat beside Amrinta and dropped her bag heavily to the floor. Snape swept in as the bell rang, with his usual practised flourish and Ginny could already tell from the sneer on his face that the lesson was going to be unpleasant. Her trepidation only grew as Snape stalked directly towards her. “Miss Weasley, I trust you have the additional questions I set for you?” Snape held out an expectant hand in front of Ginny’s face. She pushed down the urge to slap it away and pulled the parchment containing the answers out of her bag, placing it in Snape’s waiting hand. If she’d expected him to take the parchment and begin the lesson then Ginny was sorely mistaken. Snape leered down at her before slowly unrolling the parchment, without making any move away from the front of Ginny’s desk. She watched as his eyes travelled down the parchment, his nasty smile becoming more and more pronounced the further they travelled. Ginny crossed her arms over her chest and stared defiantly at him. She could feel the eyes of the rest of the class upon her but she steadfastly ignored them. “This is unacceptable, Miss Weasley,” Snape said in a low voice that travelled easily across the silent classroom. “What’s wrong with it, sir?” Ginny asked innocently. “Your answers are rushed and undetailed,” Snape said sharply. “I would expect more complex responses from a first year.” “I answered to the best of my ability, sir,” Ginny said quietly. Truthfully, she knew she’d rushed the questions but what did Snape expect when he’d set her so much work? Snape sighed in a bored manner. “If this is to the best of your ability, Miss Weasley then I expect your mother will be receiving another set of disappointing results this summer.” Anger flared white-hot in Ginny’s chest. Amrinta reached over and placed her hand soothingly on Ginny’s. “No,” Snape said thoughtfully. “I think you can do better, Miss Weasley. See me at the end of the lesson and I shall set you five new questions to be completed by Friday.” “That’s not fair!” Ginny exploded. She slammed her free hand on the desk in irritation but Snape barely even blinked at the loud bang it made. “Fine, ten more questions. Does that seem more equitable to you, Miss Weasley?” She wanted to argue, she wanted to rage and scream and leave the classroom, but Amrinta squeezed her hand and Ginny forced herself to remain calm. “Yes, sir,” Ginny said through gritted teeth. Snape gave her a small satisfied smile, which only served to make Ginny more furious, before sweeping back to the front of the classroom and addressing the class at large on the subject of Reductor curses. She was in a raging temper for the rest of the afternoon. Ginny practically snatched Snape’s questions off his desk at the end of class without looking at him. She refused to speak to anyone at final break but chose to go to the library and spend the precious fifteen minutes making a cursory start on the questions. The final lesson of the day was potions. Ginny took her place between Lizzie and Maddie and brewed her hair-raising potion in stony silence. Relief flooded Ginny when the final bell of the day rang. Even if it was an enormous drain on her time there was nothing she wanted more than to get to the Quidditch pitch and get on her broom. The fact that Harry would be there was the silver lining she desperately needed. With this in mind, she eagerly walked back to Gryffindor Tower with Maddie and Lizzie to drop her bag off before dinner. They were almost at the top of the stairs, Ginny was reluctantly laughing at one of Maddie’s stupid jokes when Harry ran past her. Her heart dropped out of her chest. He was covered in water and blood, his eyes looked frantic. “Harry!” He didn’t even seem to hear her, he just kept running. More footsteps echoed behind him and Ron appeared around the corner. “What’s going on?” Ginny demanded, grabbing her brother’s arm to stop him from dashing past. “I don’t know!” He looked terrified. “I left him alone for five minutes and next thing I know he’s covered in blood!” “Is it his blood?” Terror gripped Ginny’s heart. The annoyance and fatigue she’d been carrying around with her had been dispelled completely by the sight of Harry in such a state. “I don’t know! I need Hermione!” Ron was pacing up and down frantically. “Where is she?” Ginny asked, feeling quite as frantic as Ron looked. “She went to see Professor Vector.” “Come on then.” Ginny grabbed Ron’s arm and pulled him down the corridor without so much as a look back at Maddie and Lizzie. They practically ran straight into Hermione as they rounded the corner into the Arithmancy corridor. “Where is he?” Hermione screeched upon seeing Ginny and Ron. Clearly, the rumours of Harry running around the castle covered in blood had travelled fast. “I don’t know!” Ron said desperately. “He made me give him my potions book and then he ran off.” “Your potions book?” Hermione repeated. “You didn’t tell me that!” Ginny snapped. Her chastisement of Ron was cut off by Moaning Myrtle floating through the door of the nearest bathroom. She was sobbing loudly. “Terrible!” She wailed. “Traumatising!” Apprehension rose in Ginny’s chest. “Just tell us!” Ron demanded, clearly having no patience for Myrtle’s theatrics. “Harry Potter attempted to violently murder Draco Malfoy right in front of me!” Myrtle floated onto her back and laid a fatigued hand across her forehead. “What?” The three of them cried in unison. “Sweet Draco was in the bathroom with me, doing absolutely nothing wrong when Potter burst in and attacked him! He used a vile curse, it cut poor Draco to ribbons. There was blood everywhere. He would have died if Snape hadn’t found them. I was preparing to let Draco share my toilet!” Myrtle sounded more disappointed than anything. Ginny was shaking, whether, with anger or fear, she couldn’t say. “You’re lying!” She snarled. “Harry doesn’t even know any magic like that!” Ron defended his best mate faithfully. “I’m not lying!” Myrtle said haughtily. “I saw it with my own eyes! Now, if you don’t mind, I'm going to warn the rest of the castle to stay away from him!” “Snape found them.” This was extremely bad. Ginny felt sick. She wanted to see Harry. Now. “Let’s go to the common room. That’s where he’ll go.” Hermione said practically. She grabbed Ginny and Ron by the arm and guided them both in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. It was a testament to how worried Ron was that he didn’t even complain about missing dinner. They reached the portrait hole in record time. Ron took the lead and roughly pushed aside any unsuspecting student who dared to get in their way. At first glance the common room appeared to be empty, most students were at dinner. It took Ginny a few seconds to spot him, he was being so still and quiet but Harry was sitting by the fire, his gaze far away. The three of them rushed towards him. Ginny placed a hand on his arm and he jumped at the contact. “Are you okay?” She whispered. He nodded without looking up from the fire in front of him. “What happened?” Hermione asked. He didn’t meet any of their eyes as he recounted what had happened in the bathroom. His voice was dull and lifeless. Ginny’s vision fogged entirely when he told them Malfoy had attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse. In her opinion, he deserved whatever he got. She would gladly go and finish the job Harry had started. She was about to tell him this when Professor McGonagall appeared before them. Ginny had never seen her look so furious. Harry flinched at her expression. “Outside. Now.” McGonagall was practically quivering with rage. Harry moved hesitantly towards the portrait hole. Ginny squeezed his arm reassuringly as he passed but he didn’t seem to notice. He was gone for fifteen long minutes. Fifteen minutes during which neither Ron, Ginny or Hermione said a word. They all looked stunned. The common room slowly filled up around them. The rumours had spread like wildfire and curious glances were being thrown at them but they didn’t acknowledge it. Harry reappeared looking pale and stunned. The common room silenced immediately, he didn’t seem to notice it. He retook the seat beside Ginny and looked at no one. They sat in hushed stillness for five minutes before Demelza approached cautiously. “Harry?” He jumped at the sound of his name. “Are we having practice?” Ginny had completely forgotten that they even had a practice scheduled. It seemed hilariously unimportant right now. “No,” Harry said quietly. He shook his head and seemed to regain a little bit of composure as he turned to look at Ginny. “Can you gather the team for me, please?” She nodded even though every muscle in her body protested the idea of leaving his side right now. His face crumpled into a look of despair. “Can you get Dean as well?” The words seemed to cause him physical pain. Ginny returned ten minutes later. The rest of the team and Dean huddled around her. Everyone was looking at Harry expectantly. “I can’t play on Saturday.” The volume in the common rose considerably as the team cried out their protests. He held up a hand for silence. “I have detention every Saturday for the rest of the year.” “That’s ridiculous!” Ginny was horrified. Harry neither agreed nor disagreed with her assessment, but continued as if he hadn’t even heard her. “Ginny, I need you to play seeker. Dean, you’ll have to fill in as a chaser in Ginny’s place.” Dean turned and grinned at Ginny. Ginny couldn’t have smiled if her life depended on it. She wasn’t half the seeker Harry was but she’d win the cup for him or die trying. She’d do anything to see him smile again. “This can’t be happening!” Katie looked furious. “What the hell did you do?” “Yeah,” Demelza agreed. “I can’t believe you actually slashed Malfoy to pieces.” Harry nodded silently. The whole team's eyes went wide with horror. Ginny wanted to scream. It wasn’t that simple. He hadn’t known what the spell was going to do and Malfoy had been trying to Crucio him. How could anyone not see that it was justified? “Katie, we still have the pitch booked. Can you and Demelza take Dean and run him through the plays for the chasers, please?" Ginny knew she should go and do it but there was no way she was leaving Harry's side right now. Not whilst he looked so miserable. Katie nodded and led Dean and Demelza away. Jimmy and Ritchie headed back to their friends at the other end of the common room. Leaving Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione alone. Hermione broke the silence that descended upon them. She was stubbornly droning on about the evils of the stupid potions book. Ginny watched Harry closely, his expression turning more and more miserable as his shoulders slumped in defeat. Ginny was becoming increasingly agitated. Was Hermione blind? Couldn't she see how bad Harry already felt? And for what, defending himself from an unforgivable curse. "Give it a rest, Hermione!" Ginny couldn't listen to it anymore and Harry certainly couldn't. She pointed out that Malfoy was trying to torture Harry, which really Hermione should have been smart enough to realise for herself. Harry's head snapped up as she defended him. A smile graced his face. A small smile, but it was better than nothing. "Well, of course, I'm glad Harry wasn't cursed! But you can't call that Sectumsempra spell good, Ginny, look where it's landed him! And I'd have thought, seeing what this has done to your chances in the match -" No. She wasn't going to sit here and listen to Hermione lecture her about things she didn't even understand and in doing so plunge Harry deeper and deeper into a misery he didn’t deserve. Ginny wouldn’t stand for it. "Oh, don't start acting like you understand Quidditch, you'll only embarrass yourself." She knew it was a low blow. Insulting Hermione's intelligence was going for the jugular. A tiny tendril of guilt unfurled in her stomach but Ginny stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest and glared over Hermione's head at the opposite wall. She could feel Harry's eyes upon her but she didn't move. None of them said anything for the rest of the night. Logically Ginny knew that a night without Quidditch practice should have been a golden opportunity to catch up on her homework but she wouldn't give Hermione the satisfaction so Ginny stayed there for another hour and a half, stubbornly staring off into the distance with her arms crossed until Harry went to bed. He’d barely disappeared through the door to the boy’s dormitories before Ginny made her own exit. She pointedly said goodnight to Ron but ignored Hermione completely. Once in the safety of her dorm Ginny collapsed upon her bed, fully clothed and was asleep almost immediately. |
| Reviews 33 |
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